Family-friendly restaurants in Amsterdam

Family-friendly restaurants in Amsterdam

If you’re visiting Amsterdam with the family, there’s a good selection of restaurants that will keep both you and the kids happy.

You can’t visit Amsterdam without having a pancake, and at Pancakes Amsterdam on Berenstraat you can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They do Dutch-style pancakes as well as American pancakes and Italian crepes, with a wide range of savoury and sweet toppings. You can have gluten-free pancakes too.

Your kids will also love the Dutch sweet treats available from food stalls around the city, like poffertjes (mini Dutch pancakes), stroopwafels (two thin waffles stuck together with a layer of syrup) and oliebollen (fried dough balls with powdered sugar).

In the pretty canal-side district of Jordaan, La Perla makes crispy thin wood fired pizzas which you might think have come straight from Naples. They’re topped with ingredients imported direct from Italy, like delicious mozzarella and salamis.

Oosterdokskade’s Sea Palace Chinese Restaurant is another good family option. It’s in a pagoda shaped boat near Central Station, which makes it really special along with lovely views across the water. They do a good range of dim sum as well as spicy hot pots if you like a bit of fire in your belly.

Near the Vondelpark, Dish Global Kitchen makes interesting sandwiches, soups and salad with a menu divided into African, American, Asian and European tastes. They have high chairs and a kid’s corner with a box of toys to play with.

Or inside the Vondelpark there’s the Groot Melkhuis café. This Swiss chalet-style building has a terrace by the water and a huge children’s playground with sandpits, swings and slides. They also run special events like kids’ arts and crafts sessions on Wednesday afternoons over summer. You can have drinks, snacks and light meals at the café.